CRM — Customer Relationship Management
Definition: Software and processes used to track every interaction with prospects and customers — emails, calls, deals, support tickets — in one system.
Example
Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive are CRMs. A sales team without a CRM is flying blind on pipeline.
When you'll hear it
CRM shows up most often in board meetings, quarterly business reviews, and strategy off-sites. When someone uses it, they're usually referring to customer relationship management — and they expect the room to already know what that means.
FAQs
Do small businesses need a CRM?
Once you have more than 10 active conversations at once, yes. Spreadsheets break at scale and lose deals to follow-up gaps.
What does CRM stand for?
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management.
What does CRM mean in business and finance?
Software and processes used to track every interaction with prospects and customers — emails, calls, deals, support tickets — in one system.
Where will I hear CRM used at work?
CRM comes up most often in board meetings, quarterly business reviews, and strategy off-sites. It's used as shorthand for customer relationship management, so people assume you already know the term.